Oddball Illinois: A Guide to 450 Really Strange Places

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Overview

Since the first edition of Oddball Illinois, the state has only gotten weirder. Ten years ago there was just a single Popeye statue in downstate Chester; today the town has monuments to Olive Oyl, Swee’ Pea, Bluto, the Sea Hag, and more. The creepy Piasa Bird petroglyph on the bluff overlooking Alton now has a roadside pullout with picnic tables, and the two-story outhouse in Gays has a new contemplative garden. Not surprisingly, the second edition of Oddball Illinois has almost twice as many destinations as...

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Oddball Illinois: A Guide to 450 Really Strange Places

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More About This Book

Overview

Since the first edition of Oddball Illinois, the state has only gotten weirder. Ten years ago there was just a single Popeye statue in downstate Chester; today the town has monuments to Olive Oyl, Swee’ Pea, Bluto, the Sea Hag, and more. The creepy Piasa Bird petroglyph on the bluff overlooking Alton now has a roadside pullout with picnic tables, and the two-story outhouse in Gays has a new contemplative garden. Not surprisingly, the second edition of Oddball Illinois has almost twice as many destinations as its predecessor, including new sites such as Henry’s Rabbit Ranch, the World’s First Jungle Gym, Ahlgrim Acres (a miniature golf course at a funeral home), the Leather Archives and Museum, General Santa Ana’s two wooden legs, the World’s Largest Sock Monkey, the Friendship Shoe Fence, a truck stop with a marionette show, and a coin-operated fire-breathing dragon. This offbeat travel guide won’t point out the hottest club in Chicago, the quaintest small-town bed-and-breakfast, or the most scenic hiking trail in Illinois. This book will, however, tell about the locations of America’s One and Only Hippie Memorial, the World’s Largest Laundromat, Scarlett O’Hara’s green drapes, and several places the local Chambers of Commerce would just as soon forget. Behind all the odd sights is some wonderfully interesting history and a chance to see some underappreciated sites throughout the state.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
“One irresistible guidebook.”  —Chicago Tribune

“This Bible of cultural attractions is essential for any travelers who want to know (almost) everything about the Land of Lincoln . . . Oddball Illinois is an amazing historical/topographical document.”  —West Chicago Press

“For those who are up to an adventure, but don’t like to venture too far from home.”  —Tri-County News-Williamsfield Times Edition

“Interesting and unusual.”  —Chicago Parent

“A view of quirky and under-appreciated destinations in Illinois and Chicago.”  —Kane County Chronicle

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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781613740323
  • Publisher: Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
  • Publication date: 5/1/2012
  • Series: Oddball series
  • Edition description: Second Edition
  • Edition number: 2
  • Pages: 400
  • Sales rank: 765,402
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Jerome Pohlen is an editor and educational writer who has written 10 travel guides, including Oddball Wisconsin, Oddball Iowa, Oddball Indiana, and Progressive Nation. His travel writing has appeared in the Chicago Reader, Reader’s Digest, and Time Out Chicago. He has been a regular contributor on travel and culture for Eight Forty-Eight, which airs on WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR affliate.

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